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Thursday, April 26, 2012

Black and White Thursday

Okay, so I missed a day. But the good news is that I got more pictures in New York City. Here are some of them.
Roof Top in New York City
I can't seem to get the photo upload to work anymore, I'll have to share more tomorrow.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Black & White Tuesday

Okay I guess I'm doing a week of B&W!
Statue of Liberty
Summit Diner in New Jersey
Bridge
Rocky waiting for his carrot...yes I said carrot!

Monday, April 23, 2012

Black & White Monday

I've been loving the look of black and white photos lately. So this is just a few of the photos that I have taken recently that I've changed to black and white.
Waiting for the Train
Bottle in the Window
Bella my parents' poodle
Downtown Philadelphia
I have to admit I absolutely love color, but I'm really starting to appreciate the beauty of light and shadows and textures. I can't wait to learn more. Any suggestions on some good photographers or websites to check out I would love to hear about them! Have a great week!

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Hilarious Commercial

Just saw this commercial and I had to share. Hope you laugh as much as I did. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiAXyK-kY9A
Have a great weekend!!

Friday, April 20, 2012

Oatmeal Cookie Monster

I made a Paula Deen Recipe for Oatmeal Cookies and they were fabulous! Super yum! Delicious! Spectacular! Although, what more would you expect from Paula Deen. She is one person I would love to meet. She just always seems to have a smile on her face and she seems to bring out the best in people. Well here are some photos of the process...
This recipe makes a ton of cookies, so you may want to cut the recipe in half if you don't need that many! I just loved the flavors in this cookie, the plump raisins and the crunchy pecans along with the oatmeal with the vanilla and cinnamon flavor. Delish! If you have time make this this weekend, if you don't want to eat the whole batch, make it on Sunday night and bring the cookies to work on Monday! Here's the Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe Again.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Chicken Piccata

Barefoot Contessa on Food Network has become a new favorite show of mine. I watched a show recently where she made Chicken Piccata with buttermilk mashed potatoes. It looked rather easy...again...they always make it look easy. haha But seriously it wasn't that bad. The lemon, butter and white wine sauce was to die for. Although if you don't like a really strong lemon taste you may not want to use this recipe. The episode was called It's Friday Night Again because, apparently, her and her husband have chicken every Friday night. Isn't that cute? I just remember growing up we would order pizza on Friday nights. It's kind of like a taco Tuesday kind of thing.
It was a great dinner, I probably should have had a green veggie, but I had enough to cook. As soon as I took a bite I knew this is something that I needed to make again...and again...and again.
Fantastical sauce! lemony, buttery goodness!
The only thing I did different is that I cooked the chicken all on the stove top. I couldn't manage turning on the oven because it was a hot day!
The dog loves to play with the cat. Just thought I'd throw this in here. Have a great day.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Chicken and Dumplings

Last week I watched a show on Food Network by Tyler Florence and he was making Chicken and Dumplings. It looked so good it made my mouth water. You know these cooking shows make everything look so easy. Of course they're organized to a T so that they can do the show and I always seem to forget that when I take on some of these recipes. But then again I'm not exactly choosing the simple recipes! Its not fun unless you're getting everything dirty.
I started out by making my own chicken broth...can you believe that? Cause I can't! I actually made chicken broth. I found a recipe that used a whole chicken and I used everything it told me to except for a turnip, maybe next time I take this on I'll get a turnip. I let the chicken broth cool over night and skimmed off all the fat.
The next day I made the roux and poured in the chicken broth that I had made and started on making the dumplings. On the episode I saw he added chives to the dumplings to that is what I did. But I did forget to get frozen pearl onions and frozen peas, which I will definitely do next time.
In the end though everything came together and all I needed was a little salt and freshly cracked pepper and it was delicious! I did a great job if I do say so myself!
And the pups just took naps until they smelled me adding the chicken and then they all stared at me hoping something might drop. I'll have to get a picture of them watching me next time. Here is the recipe that I mostly followed. Maybe I'll try a Paula Deen recipe next. I just love her.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Quote Sharing

I just heard this quote and I thought it was great and wanted to share.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Spring Sneezes

Oh spring, how I love thee. Let me count the ways. I love your blooming trees of white and pink. I love your bulbs that pop up in every color. I love the birds chirping good morning. I love all the pollen that swishes all in the air that makes me go.....ahhhhhhhchoooooooooo!
Now I remember why spring is not my favorite season. I'm sure I would feel much differently if I didn't have allergies to all the beautiful blooms around me. That means I'm allergic to beauty, right?
Calvin makes me laugh, I feel like my head is going to come off one of these times. I heard a thing on tv that women with long hair should wash their hair more frequently if they have allergies because all the pollen sticks to your hair. I thought that was very interesting. I'm sure that's the same for animals too. They go outside and they get all the pollen on them and bring it in the house. It's everywhere! Attack of the pollen!
While we were on the subject of sneezing, my favorite book growing up was Because a Little Bug Went Kachoo!. The book talks about a little bug sneezing and all the things that are affected because of that sneeze. It causes a chain reaction and it winds up sending the whole town into chaos! Maybe my favorite part of the book was hearing my mom or dad act it out as we read.
And then there's nothing better then that face you make before you sneeze. We all know that face...your face scrunches up and you try to hold it back which makes your face even more crazy looking.
link
Some sneezes are so cute they make you laugh. Like this video of a baby elephant sneezing and scaring himself. So cute. http://youtu.be/gtIz1u8g1F0 Well happy sneezing too all and to all a good weekend! Now go take your claritin, allegra, zyrtec and nasonex before things get too crazy.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Friday the 13th

I, personally, love Friday the 13th. I've never been a superstitious person. I've owned black cats and I've walked under ladders (only because I couldn't go around) and I've accidentally broken a mirror. I've spilled the salt and not thrown any over my shoulder. But I'm sure there are some things that I do that are considered superstitious like saying "God Bless You" when someone sneezes, although sometimes it feels like it's just having good manners. It's allergy season too, you don't have to say GBY every single time...unless you think it will help? hehe
One movie that I always thought took place on Friday the 13th was the movie Freaky Friday. It was one of my favorites growing up. I just loved the idea of trading places with my mom and having a crazy adventure. Barbara Harris always made me laugh with her crazy facial expressions. I thought Jodie Foster was wonderful in this movie.
I have to say that I really did like the remake of this movie. It took me several years to actually see this movie because I was so against a remake of a movie that was great. I really like Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan in this movie.
Back to superstitions, one thing I've noticed about old elevators is the fact that they don't have a 13th floor. Well I mean obviously they do have a 13th floor, but they refused to call it 13, they would skip to 14. I remember the elevator in my college dorm was like this. I just think it's funny.
I hope you have a wonderful Friday. *crossing fingers* ;o)

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Sending you Flowers

I was going through my pictures and I had some really pretty pictures of random flowers. Some of them I had posted on instagram and others have not been posted.
Sunflower, taken in Minnesota.
Hollyhock I planted in my parents backyard.
Gorgeous coral colored roses.
Giant purple irises.
Cute little daisies.
I believe this is a light yellow dahlia, I'm so bad with flower names.
I love this light purple iris.
Happy yellow daffodils.
Smilie orange tulip.
Light green orchid with a maroon center. I love this pic, I used the colorsplash app to make the background black and white.
Purple daisies in a basket.
My favorite flower, the plumeria. Have a great Thursday!

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Gray Clouds and Pink Trees

These are a couple of cloud pictures I took yesterday. I really love when the sun shines through.
And this is what the trees looked like a week ago...
And this is what the trees look like today...
I love pink trees.